#History -- 50 years ago today, the Paris Peace Accords officially ended the Vietnam War, one of the longest and bloodiest wars of the 20th century, with up to 2.5 million casualties.

Despite the Peace Accords, it went on for another two years, with William Nolde becoming the conflict's last recorded US combat casualty on May 13, 1975.

#History -- 200 years ago today, Edward Jenner died, creator of the world's first vaccine: the smallpox vaccine.

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#History -- 250 years ago today, Captain James Cook led the first expedition to sail south of the Antarctic Circle.

#History -- 2,050 years ago today (16 January 27 BC), Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus was granted the title #Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the #Roman Empire.

In the beginning, there was the Roman Kingdom from 753 BC, then the Roman Republic from 509 BC. And now, with the Empire, the Romans became one of the most influential powers in world history -- at the Empire's height, it controlled a vast area that stretched from Britain to the Persian Gulf, and down to Egypt.

#History -- 50 years ago today, Soviet space mission Luna 21 was launched. The spacecraft landed on the Moon and deployed the second Soviet lunar rover, Lunokhod 2. Before last contact, the rover took 80,000 TV pictures and 86 panoramic photos and had performed hundreds of mechanical and chemical surveys of the soil.

I asked #ChatGPT to write a short #poem about #CoSo. This is what I got.

No words 😂

Portrait of my cat, in the morning, before being fed.

Here's a Theraphosa stirmi (not my own though), and what a beauty she is 😍 😍 Sweet little fluffball. Remember, spiders are our friends ❤️ #Tarantulas #Spiders

Fun fact #4: Peru has a boiling river. Average temperature: 86.4°C (187.5°F). Its name is Shanay-timpishka if you want to google it 😁 And: No one really knows why it's that hot!

The demon is enraged. Every page of the newspaper is him getting charged with another crime.

Source: https://thenib.com/height-of-folly/

#History -- 50 years ago today, Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, was launched. The crew took the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they left Earth.

#History -- 50 years ago today, Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, was launched. The crew took the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they left Earth.

#History -- 100 years ago, exactly one year after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State came into existence. One day later, the Parliament of Northern Ireland voted to remain a part of the United Kingdom and not unify with Southern Ireland.

#History -- 150 years ago today, the ghost ship Mary Celeste, drifting in the Atlantic, was discovered by the Canadian brig Dei Gratia. The ship had been abandoned for nine days but was only slightly damaged. Her master Benjamin Briggs and all nine others known to have been on board were never accounted for.

There's US Karens, and then there's German Karens:

"Female patient in Germany switched off oxygen device of bed neighbor: The 72-year-old reportedly felt disturbed by the device and repeated the act despite an explanation from staff. She is now in custody."

#History -- 50 years ago today, Spantax Flight 275 crashed during takeoff from Tenerife North–Ciudad de La Laguna Airport, killing all 155 people on board.

😂 🎺